


fear has no place here

by SyverneSien



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Chases, Friends to Enemies, Gen, How Do I Tag, Metaphors, My First Work in This Fandom, Non-Graphic Violence, Temporary Character Death, The Nether (Minecraft), based on the manhunt vids cuz i watched them all in 2 days
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-18
Updated: 2020-08-18
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:07:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25981081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SyverneSien/pseuds/SyverneSien
Summary: “Fear has no place here. You fight…” Dream leapt forward and slashed a gash across George’s cheek, “...or you die.”“You’re going to kill me,” George observed quietly, blood trickling down his face. “But we’re going to come back, do you hear me? We’re going to stop you.” His tone was insistent, though terrified.Dream chuckled darkly. “You can try.”Dream is running. But he is not runningaway.
Relationships: Clay | Dream & Darryl Noveschosch, Clay | Dream & GeorgeNotFound (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream & Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), Darryl Noveschosch & Sapnap, GeorgeNotFound & Darryl Noveschosch, GeorgeNotFound & Darryl Noveschosch & Sapnap, No Romantic Relationship(s)
Comments: 20
Kudos: 148





	fear has no place here

His mask was cracked and worn, no longer white. His green hoodie and black trousers were stained with mud and grime. Black tinged the edges of his vision. Every breath lit a fire in his lungs and pain shot through his legs with every new pace. The sun had dipped below the horizon hours ago, but he couldn’t stop. Stopping now meant that he was as good as dead. They - his  _ friends, _ he thought bitterly - would catch up with him, then.

But what kind of friends hunted you down with the intention to kill?

The kind that Dream had, apparently.

In the distance, he spotted his saviour. A jungle. It called to him, beckoned to him with whispers of sanctuary and welcoming arms made of thick branches and vines. He would not be  _ safe… _ no, he would not be safe as long as the hunters were tracking him. But he could chase a fleeting moment of rest, hide instead of run, before he had to flee again in the daylight. He could pretend that he hadn’t been chased out of the village he’d lived in for his whole life, his friends determined to bring him to justice.

He hadn’t even committed the crime.

He did not risk placing down blocks to cross the river. He pushed the last bit of energy out of his body with a grunt of pain, biting down on his tongue to keep from crying out. He landed on the other side of the river and his leg buckled, throwing him to the ground. Breathing hard, he tried to get back up again, but now that he’d lost his momentum, it proved to be agony. But he was  _ so close… _

Dream pushed, and he did not stop again until he was within the jungle’s grasp.

Climbing a tree would have been impossible, so he chose not to try. Instead, he turned his gaze to the undergrowth, the thick brush and difficult terrain, and moved as far as he could into the jungle to search for the perfect spot. When he could go no further he fell, clutching his ribs and struggling to breathe, and used his dirt-caked hands to drag himself under a tight canopy of branches and leaves, hidden ever so delicately from the rest of the world by an earthen shield.

He did not dream, and for that he was glad.

Dream could not afford to wake up screaming.

* * *

He stayed for as long as he dared in the jungle, before he saw figures on the horizon and knew he had overstayed his welcome. The sands of time were falling, trying to bury him in his grave alongside the bones of his old life. He grieved what he once had, mourned it like a friend, and when it was time to run again, he had tools, resources, and a mission:

Win.

A cave half-masked by a thicket was his escape route. He plunged into the darkness, quickly finding coal just a few strides from the entrance, and he retrieved it easily. Jungle wood and coal granted him a light, a rough torch clutched in his left hand, casting an eerie glow on his face and bringing life to shadows that danced on the stone walls. He’d thrown his mask into the river, hoping that his pursuers would find it downstream and be put off his scent, at least for a few moments. He did not need a mask when the only humans he was ever going to see again were those reanimated by old magic, rotting and groaning and easily disposed of by his iron sword, and those who intended to kill him either way.

He did not intend to let his hunters kill him. They were three, yes, but Dream was no longer human. He was a creature of earth and fire and water and air, reborn from the ashes that he had left behind in the jungle. If they wanted to hunt a monster, then he would be their monster. If they came knocking, looking for Dream… all they would find was a nightmare.

And so Dream walked forwards into Hell, diamond sword on his hip, cloaked in iron and diamonds and the sturdy wood of a shield, his chin held high. He was not running anymore. If his hunters followed him… then they would become the hunted.

Humans could survive in the Nether, but creatures of fire and earth were born to rule it.

* * *

They finally cornered him in a fortress. Or at least, that was what they thought. Dream had made use of valuable time and prepared, tricking his hunters into thinking that he was slower than he actually was.

Besides, killing mobs was boring.

Dream wanted a  _ thrill. _

And his hunters would just respawn anyway.

What was the harm in having a bit of fun?

Dream’s laughter echoed throughout the endless halls as he ran, Sapnap and Bad on his heels. They were chasing him but he was  _ elated, _ because he knew this fortress. His hunters would face their doom in this place. Sapnap was shouting after him, asking why he was laughing. Dream just grinned, charged up the stairs and past the blaze spawner, and vaulted the fence.

“What the- where did that muffinhead go?” Bad screeched, racing to the fences. Dream watched as he looked down, first past where Dream was hanging by his fingertips to where the lava lake spread, then at Dream himself. Bad’s eyes widened. “Sapnap!” he shouted. “He’s here!”

Dream planted his foot on the bricks and braced himself. Bad had to be taken out first. Then Sapnap would follow. As Bad traversed the fences (Dream presumed that Bad intended to simply step on his fingers and force him to fall into the lava), Dream sprung up, grabbed a fistful of Bad’s tunic, threw his other foot down on the ledge and jammed it underneath the fence, and shoved Bad over the edge.

“Bad!” Sapnap howled, charging towards Dream with his iron sword at the ready. Dream leapt back over the fence and drew his diamond sword, blue blade contrasting fiercely against the red tones of the Nether. Their weapons clashed with a loud clang and Sapnap stumbled back. Dream’s expression hardened.

Dream pressed forward, hammering blows against Sapnap’s sword and shield. “Why don’t you  _ run, _ Sapnap?” Dream taunted. “Take my place for a change?” He grinned and it was cold, his sword leaving another gash in the wood of Sapnap’s shield.

Sapnap’s eyes lit up with fear and he must have realized that he was outmatched because he turned and fled along the corridor. Dream smirked, letting Sapnap go as he sheathed his sword and slung his shield over his back, before retrieving his bow from the ground where he’d left it. Dream notched an arrow and pointed it at the gap between Sapnap’s chestplate and helmet, his form loose, took a deep breath, and let the projectile fly. It skewered Sapnap directly through the neck, and in an instant, only one hunter remained in the Nether.

Dream gathered up as much of Sapnap’s items as he could and moved back to where he’d been storing his things. George was around somewhere, he thought as he reorganized his inventory.  _ All I have to do is find him before the others return. _ Dream made sure that there was nothing left that would be useful to George, and went on the prowl.

Sliding one foot in front of the other so he could move silently, Dream searched through the entire fortress, searching for the elusive hunter. He didn’t know where George was, but he didn’t think that George knew where he was either. Dream listened astutely, tuning out the ambient sounds of the Nether, eager for anything that would give rise to a chase and a battle that George would ultimately lose.

_ There! _ Dream heard it. Footsteps. He closed his hand around the hilt of his sword but did not draw it yet - instead, he moved to pursue the footsteps and pinpoint their location. The footsteps quickened and Dream knew that George was running. But even a desperate hunter could not outrun a nightmare. Sleep caught all, eventually.

Dream made haste, throwing away stealth in favour of speed, and charged through the fortress corridors. “I can hear you, George!” he called, taunting. “Come back here and fight me!” Dream laughed, hurtling around a corner and catching a glimpse of George up ahead.

“Get away from me!” George cried, running out onto one of the bridges overlooking the lava. “Leave me alone, Dream!” He glanced over his shoulder and Dream could see the terror in his eyes. Just another reminder that Dream was no longer one of them. George continued to flee… and halted as the way back into the fortress was revealed to be buried in netherrack.

Dream slowed his pace. Lava surrounded them. There was no way for George to escape. “This is the Nether, George,” Dream commented as he advanced, backing George against the wall. “Fear has no place here. You fight…” Dream leapt forward and slashed a gash across George’s cheek, “...or you die.”

“You’re going to kill me,” George observed quietly, blood trickling down his face. “But we’re going to come back, do you hear me? We’re going to stop you.” His tone was insistent, though terrified.

Dream chuckled darkly. “You can try.” Then he spun his sword in his hand and swiftly drove it through George’s stomach. George choked on his own blood for a moment before vanishing, soon to respawn elsewhere. Dream hummed and turned away, sheathing his sword and making his way back to where he had left the rest of his items.

It was time to run again.

* * *

Dream dropped into the stronghold, the sound of his landing echoing around the stone brick walls. The hunters were on his trail, but he knew he could find the portal before they arrived. He had enough eyes of ender left to activate it. Perhaps he could even kill the dragon before they caught up, if he was lucky, but Dream didn’t want to get ahead of himself.

The cry of silverfish drew his ears and he crept through the dark halls, refusing to light the old torches that lined the walls and instead making sure that the one in his hand continued to burn. He would not give his hunters any help. If he had to venture into the darkness, then so did they.

Every monster that came upon Dream died instantly, though he noticed that there were less than there should be. Could the monsters tell that his sword had been bathed in the blood of their fallen kinsfolk? Could they see the aura of murder and smell the stink of death that followed him everywhere he went? Could they sense that Dream would kill them all without hesitating, slaughter thousands before he even broke a sweat?

Perhaps not.

Perhaps it was just theatrics and a trick of the mind.

But it was certain that Dream could never go back, even if he wasn’t a god or a monster or a nightmare. Even if he was just a man forced to fight.

The portal opened in a blinding flash of purple, appearing almost as if someone had torn a hole in space and it was bleeding through. Dream looked at the stars, and the nebulae, and the galaxies, and the endless void of black, then back at the stronghold. Legends told of this place and its guardian, the ender dragon. Either he or the dragon would die. It had never been killed before in this world - in others, where the ancient books came from, yes, but never this one. Dream was going to change that.

How this would prove his innocence, he wasn’t sure. What came next, after this?

Dream took a deep breath. It didn’t matter. The dragon came first. He could worry about what happened next after it was dead. Without another thought, Dream jumped.

It was like falling through a pool of icy water. A sudden blast of freezing cold, making Dream gasp, then a hard landing on a platform of obsidian. Dream stumbled, retrieved his pickaxe from his inventory, and started to mine up to the surface, his urgency returning. Bad, George, and Sapnap could be anywhere. They could even be in the stronghold already. There was no time for any more delays.

The ender dragon roared overhead and Dream realized that he felt no fear. It was just another monster, after all. He had killed players and monsters alike since being driven out of his home. This was no different. Dream’s expression hardened, and he notched an arrow.

* * *

The hunters arrived just as Dream obliterated the last end crystal. Dream realized too late that he should have thought to trap the entrance before starting his attack on the ender dragon. Now he had to deal with an angry dragon and three friends that were furious about their repeated deaths. One glance at them showed that all three had diamond armour and swords.

“Oh  _ Dream…” _ George called, his voice travelling easily across the barren landscape. “We’re here for you, Dream!” They seemed confident. Dream didn’t have to glance down at his armour to know that he was sorely outmatched in terms of gear.

Dream quickly looked through his items. Ender pearls. Water and lava buckets. TNT. Bow and arrows. Diamond sword. Potions…

Dream grinned and popped the cork of a bottle of clear liquid. It went down fast, and he returned to his assault on the ender dragon. Three minutes started  _ now. _

“Where is he?” Bad shouted. The hunters had become frantic. “Where did he go? Spread out and find him!” One of them ran straight past where Dream was standing, sword at the ready. “Dream? Dream! Come out here!”

Two minutes. The dragon roared in pain.

“He must be invisible or something!” George cried. “What do we do? The trackers aren’t working-”

“Look for his bow,” Bad suggested. “He has to pull it out to shoot. We’ll get him - don’t you worry, George.” Bad’s eyes narrowed.

One minute.

“Up there!” Sapnap pointed, and Dream cursed. “Let’s get him, guys!” Dream fumbled for an ender pearl but Sapnap had already landed on the pillar beside him. Sapnap’s sword whistled by Dream’s ear and Dream flinched away, deciding to keep his hands empty and dodge. Sapnap swung wildly, clearly not able to figure out where Dream was.

Dream dashed around his back and pulled out his sword. The others would be close behind if he didn’t act. He moved forward and swiftly locked Sapnap’s head between his shoulder and sword. “Drop your weapon,” Dream ordered.

It clattered to the ground.

“Sapnap!” George appeared at the edge of the pillar, seemingly having just towered up. “Let him go, you sadistic-”

“You’re really not in the place to be making demands, George,” Dream drawled. “I don’t understand what your worry is, either.” He pressed the blade harder against Sapnap’s neck. “He’ll just respawn.”

“You wouldn’t know,” George spat, “because you don’t die. But it’s worse every time. One day, we might not come back.” George was staring at Sapnap. “Please, Dream-”

“Sucks to be you, then,” Dream hissed, and he slit Sapnap’s throat.

George let out a wordless wail and plunged forward, but Dream was still invisible. Dream sheathed his sword, dodged beneath George’s blows, and firmly planted his foot in the centre of George’s chest.

“Goodbye, George,” Dream murmured.

“Dream! Wait- wait-  _ wait-” _ George pleaded, but Dream had already pushed, and George was already staggering backwards and tumbling over the edge.

Time’s up. Dream watched his hands slowly become visible again.

Moving quickly, Dream retrieved Sapnap’s diamond armour and threw away his iron gear. He didn’t know where Bad was, and George and Sapnap could reappear quickly with backup gear if they had prepared. He exchanged weapons for his bow and lined up a few perfect shots at the ender dragon’s neck, before it veered towards the pillar he was standing on and he was forced to leap off the edge with a water bucket in hand.

Dream landed in the water and rolled, absorbing the impact as much as he could. Dream’s chest heaved as he scooped it up again and tried to force away the adrenaline rush that had his hands shaking. Fight.  _ Fight like your life depends on it, Dream. _ Because it did. The only way out was  _ through _ the dragon.

It had to die.

An earsplitting roar shook the ground and Dream struggled to keep his balance. The dragon swooped overheard, its beady eyes searching the ground for him. Dream glared at it, taking a deep breath, and pulled another glass bottle out of his inventory. This one was filled with a thick, bright red liquid that fizzed. He popped the cork and downed it in one go, feeling new strength rush through him and invigorate him.

Bad, George, Sapnap, the dragon…

They would all fall before him.

Dream.

The warrior.

The conqueror.

With a final stroke of his sword, the dragon burned.

And Dream was left to cope with the ashes.

**Author's Note:**

> As the tags say, this is my first work for DTeam, so I'm sorry if it's not that great! I don't know if I'll ever write for these guys again, but if you did enjoy, please leave a kudos and maybe a comment? I had a lot of fun and I've been really enjoying the manhunt content. Sad that they're not doing another one.


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